St. Louis Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong announced Monday the club has acquired defenseman Jay Bouwmeester from Calgary in exchange for defenseman Mark Cundari, the rights to goaltender Reto Berra and a conditional first round pick in 2013.

“We've been looking to acquire a top left-handed defenseman and Jay represents that and is an elite player in our game,” said Armstrong.

Bouwmeester, 29, has dressed in 33 games for the Flames this season, posting 15 points (six goals, nine assists) and 16 penalty minutes while ranking 13th among all defenseman in time on ice per game (25:09).

For all the blather about his contract – Bouwmeester has one more year on his contract with a $6.68 million cap hit – and his lack of playoff experience (to put it lightly), Bouwmeester remains a good puck-moving defenseman who brings offensive from the blue line – something that’s been problematic for the Blues this season.

The things is, once the Blues get Bouwmeester, they have to pay him a lot of money in what should be the first year of some hefty new contracts for current players. Kevin Shattenkirk and Alex Pietrangelo are both in their final years of their RFA entry level deals, and will command a paycheck that the Blues will presumably pay. Between those two contracts and Bouwmeester, that's a lot of money to spend on a defense that has the ability to be great but the tendency to be erratic.

In fact, the Blues have six RFAs and six UFAs – the latter group having its share of instant castoffs like Leipold and Wade Redden. The bottom line is that Bouwmeester gives this team a solid group in front of Jaroslav Halak, Brian Elliott and Jake Allen.

And based on how their goaltending has sunk into the abyss this season, the Blues can use all the defense they can get.